1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color reproduction predicting apparatus, a color reproduction predicting method, and a program for predicting color reproduction.
2. Description of the Related Art
With significant advances in inkjet technology in recent years, it has become possible for inkjet printers to produce large color prints of high quality at high speeds. Inkjet printers are not only popular for private or home use, but also are widely used in commercial applications nowadays. Inkjet printers make it possible to print on POP (Point Of Purchase) posters, wall posters, large-size mediums such as outdoor advertisements and billboards, roll mediums, and thick hard mediums.
Since advertisement prints are expected to be effective to arouse consumers' motivation to buy advertised products through visual sensation, the finish of the colors of the prints is of particular importance. Heretofore, there have been disclosed various color matching technologies as print color managing means, such as a method of generating an ICC (International Color Consortium) profile, which is capable of achieving both high color reproduction accuracy and a reduced number of man-hours, by reducing the number of color patches to be printed and colorimetrically measured.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-081494 discloses a method of and an apparatus for predicting and supplying, by applying a Neugebauer model, data lacking in lattice-point data, which are required in a case where a cellular Neugebauer model is applied. This publication states that a smooth color representation can be achieved with high accuracy in the vicinity of a gamut boundary.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-111667, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-259168, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-259169 disclose methods of and apparatus for acquiring data of lattice points required to apply a cellular Yule-Nielsen spectral Neugebauer model, by applying a sufficiently learned neural network model to data of a first representative point (part of lattice points) that has been obtained by a colorimetric process, so as to predict a second representative point (remaining lattice points). These publications state that the disclosed method and apparatus are capable of accurately predicting print results with less printing and colorimetry.